Switchboard jack



Aug. 11, 1925.

1,549,480 P. R. FORTIN SWITCHBOARD JACK Filed' Nov. 8. 1922 I ll,

Inventor I Paul RFor'Lin,

Patented Aug. 11, 1925.

UNETED STATES 1,549,4sa PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL R. FORTIN, 0F SGHENECTADY, NEVT YORK, ASSIGN'OR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

SWITCHBOARD JACK.

Application filed November 8, 1922. Serial No. 599,634.

To 0' whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, PAUL R. FonTIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switchboard Jacks, of which the following is aspecitication.

The present invention relates to switchboard connectors whereby main and branch circuits may readily be connected by plug ging in, and more especially to the female or ack member of such connectors.

Since the advent of the wireless communication art, there has been a growing demand for a universal jack adaptable for ready mounting on furniture or on sheet metal, wood or insulating panels in the making of the great variety of switchboards and similar devices designed and being designed for use in the particular art.

The object of my invention is to provide a sturdy switchboard jack which may with facility be mounted by amateurs on any kind of support or panel whether thick or thin, insulative or conductive, and a further object is to provide a universal labelling attachment which may be readily applied di root to the ack without tools.

One form of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

1 is a part side elevation and part longitudinal section; Fig. 2 is a top plan view, and Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the parts which upon assembling constitute the improved jack.

The main portion of the jack consists of a metal frame 1 having at one end the insulated leaf contacts 2, 3 and 4t and at the opposite end a cylindrical shank 5 having a tapering or conical shoulder 6 at its inner end adjacent its union with the squared end of the frame 1. The bore 7 of the shank is in alignment with the leaf contacts 2 and 3 so that upon entering of the contact plug therein it will engage with them in the usual manner. The frame is also provided with screw holes to permit it to be secured to a flat support such as a table top.

In order that the jack may be installed by the inexpert and without necessitating the employment of special tools, I have provided an adjustable sleeve 8 adapted to be inserted in a plain hole drilled in the panel board and to receive within its bore the shank 5 of the frame. This sleeve has at its outer end a polygonal head 9 with a radial shoulder at its inner side and a peripheral thread 10 extending from the shoulder to its inner end for the reception of a nut 11 having bent-up side wings 12. lVherc the jack is mounted on a panel board of nonfragile insulation such as wood, stone or bakelite, the sleeve will be inserted in the hole drilled therefor with its radial shoulder in contact with the front surface of the panel and screwed home in the nut 11 at the back of the panel. lVhere the mounting is a panel of sheet metal or glass or other fragile material, an insulating bushing and spacer 13 and 1a of fibre will be employed to insulate the sleeve 9 from the metal panel or to cushion it in the case of fragile mate rial. The inner end of the bore in the sleeve 8 is made tapering or conical so as to center and frictionally engage the tapering shoulder 6 on the frame when the shank 5 thereof is forced home within the sleeve 8. This is accomplished by means of a nut 15 threaded upon the outer end of the shank. The wings 12 on the nut 11 are spaced apart far enough to permit the squared end of the frame 1 to enter freely between them but not to turn relative thereto.

The shank 5 and the sleeve 8 are made of definite lengths so that when the former is drawn home in the latter there will be a registry with the outside of the nut 15 and any variations in thickness of wall of the panel board will be cared for by the projection of the sleeve to the back of the panel.

In order that an identification mark or label may be easily applied directly to a jack, I have provided a cupped dial 16 having a series of legends 17 thereon near its periphery and a screen or cover plate 18 similarly shaped but with asegment 19 cut from its periphery of sufiicient size to expose only one legend at a time, and in order to insure registry between the cut away segment of the screen 18 and the respective legends on the dial 16, the latter is provided with notches 20 properly positioned about the central aperture therein and the former is provided with one or more lugs 21 sim'1 larly positioned and adapted to enter the respective notches 20 in the dial. These label plates are mounted on the jack shank 5 and bound in fixed relation thereon upon turning up the nut 15'.

It is to be observed that mounting of my jack requires only plain holes to be bored or drilled in the panel board, that no tools need be applied inside the panel during mounting, and that an artistic and worlmanlike appearance is assured regardless of the thickness or character of material employed in the panel board.

lVhile I have shown and described the best embodiment of the invention known to me, I do not desire to be restricted thereto.

IVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is,

1. In a switchboard jack and means for mounting the same, the combination of a jack flitll'le having a shank, a metal sleeve adapted to receive said shank, means for adjustably clamping said shank to said sleeve, and adjustable means on said sleeve for se curing it in fixed position in its mounting.

2. In a switchboard jack and means for mounting the same, the combination oi a jack frame with a tapered shoulder and a threaded shank at one end thereof, a metal sleeve adapted to receive said shank and provided with an external thread and shoulder, a nut on said shank adapted to engage one end of said sleeve and draw the tapered shoulder into frictional engagement with the opposite end thereof, and a nut adapted to screw upon the threaded portion of said sleeve.

3. In a switchboard jack and means for mounting the same, the combination of a jack frame having a squared end and a tubular shank projecting therefrom, a metal mounting sleeve therefor provided with an external thread and shoulder, and a nut adapted to screw upon the threaded portion of said sleeve and provided with upturned wings spaced to receive between them the squared end of the jack frame.

4. The combination with a switchboard jack, of a dial plate mounted thereon and provided adjacent its periphery with a plurality of identification symbols, a screen plate adapted to overlie said dial and provided with a peripheral cut away portion, and means to insure registry of said cut away portion of the screen with the respective symbols of the dial plate.

5. The combination with a switchboard jack, of a cupped dial plate provided with a plurality of symbols adjacent the periphery and having a central aperture with radial notches corresponding to said symbols, and a cupped screen plate therefor provided with a cut away portion to expose said symbols singly and having lugs adapted to enter the respective notches in said dial plate.

6. The combination with a. switchboard jack having a threaded shank, a dial plate having a central aperture for the reception of said shank and provided with a plurality of symbols near its periphery, a screen plate adapted to overlie said dial and provided with a cut away portion to expose said symbols singly, means for positioning said plates with the cut away portion in registry with said symbols, and a nut for securing said plates in fixed relation to said threaded shank.

7. The combination of a cup-shaped dial plate having a plurality of symbols adjacent its periphery and corresponding positioning notches, and a cup-shaped screen disk having a peripheral cut away portion and a positioning lug adapted to enter the respective notches of the dial plate when nested therewith.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of November, 1922.

PAUL R. FORTIN. 

